Three Ways Jake and Bells Could've Happened
by Literature Rogue
Summary: ."It would've been effortless for us- comfortable, easy as breathing." Three ways Jacob and Bella could have been together.
1. No Monsters, No Magic

**Author's Note: **I know I haven't written anything in forever, but I'm participating in NaNoWriMo this year, so I figured I'd better get back into a writing mood. And the only characters (aside from my own) that I want to write are Jacob-and-Bella. I reread New Moon recently and fell in love with them all over again, so this idea sprang forth. It's sort of like my other Twilight story, _Five Times Jacob Black Kissed Bella Swan_, but in this one, each 'way' is a lot longer. So I broke them up into chapters. These ideas are a little bit more formed than the little snapshots you get in _Five Times_ (I'm also writing them out one at a time, and they take a while). Jacob and Bella could have happened easily, in a lot of different ways. Here, I'll focus on three ways our kids could've been happy. This first one is titled 'No Monsters, No Magic'. Bet you can't guess what this one's about...

**DISCLAIMER: **I do not own Twilight, Bella, or anything else mentioned in this story aside from the idea itself. I am only responsible for their fictional corruption.

* * *

**I.**

Bella is seven when she spends her first real summer in Forks.

She's sitting outside in the chilly, June air. At least it isn't raining. Charlie's taken her down to La Push. He's watching a Mariners game with Billy. And Bella had been lumped with Rachel-and-Rebecca, Billy's twin daughters who were just a few years older than she was. But the twins were much more interested in trying to swim the surely frigid waters down by First Beach and Bella had never been a strong swimmer. Besides, she was wearing her good shoes.

So she's perched on a log around the now silent fire. Last night, there had been a bonfire. She can still smell the hint of dying flames on the air. Bella has _The Chronicles of Narnia _propped open on her lap, though she really is too young to read it all on her own. She recognizes most of the words, but some are too big for her and they make her eyebrows pull together at the center. She frowns and tries to decide what _suspicious _means.

An old truck rumbles up into the Blacks' driveway behind Charlie's cruiser. Bella's gaze lifts from the weathered pages of Forks Library's C.S. Lewis novel and to the red pickup truck. It's old and makes a lot of noise, but that old truck seems homey somehow, familiar. Sarah Black hops out of the cab and waves at her.

"Hi, Bella! You probably don't remember me…"

"Sure I do," Bella says, grinning faintly. "You make really good Christmas cookies…"

Sarah smiles faintly and shrugs her shoulders. "Well, thanks. The girls out at the beach?" Bella nods, watching as a little, dark-haired boy leaps from the passenger seat and onto the ground. He lands in a crouch and Bella notices the same dark skin-tone of his sisters. The little boy's hair is long, and worn in a loose ponytail. Sarah sighs and pulls her son up by a hand. "Come on, Blackbear, be careful." The little boy grins impishly, dimples poking out.

Bella finds his smile warm and inviting, even if she doesn't know him personally. "Go play. But don't get in the water. Understand?" He nods and runs off, arms swinging beside him. He pauses near the fire pit, head tilted a bit to the side as he surveys this newcomer.

He stares at Bella.

Bella stares back, though she feels rude and looks away first.

"Hi," he says, sticking out his hand. It's covered in dirt. "I'm Jacob. Jacob Black."

She takes his hand. "Bella Swan."  
-

Jacob is ten.

He has a lot of friends. Embry and Quil have been his left and right hand since kindergarten. Paul and Jared play with them sometimes, too. Little Seth Clearwater follows him around like a little lost puppy.

But nothing's quite the same as his 'summer friend'. During the summers, Embry's mother sends him off to camp in Oregon and Quil goes to visit his aunt in Portland for three weeks. Those weeks of Jacob Black's summers had always been bleak and boring. But ever since that fateful day many years ago, he's found someone else to fill that void.

It's not quite the same, because she likes to read and she doesn't like swimming and riding bikes like Quil and Embry do. But it doesn't really matter. She'll read her books and watch him try to fix Paul's broken bike. They'll watch bad movies and sometimes Bella will read to him. And his summer goes by more quickly than he'd ever imagined.

June melts into July and July fades into August, and soon, the somewhat warm air of Forks is getting chilly again and Bella's stopping by to say goodbye. She fidgets a little bit and Jacob thinks she looks sad.

Jacob grins at her and shrugs. "Don't worry, Bella," he says. "You'll see me next summer. You can't get rid of me that easy."

She laughs and it sounds like Bells. _Bells, _Jacob thinks. _I'll call her Bells._Jacob gives a little sigh and holds out a bracelet made of different colored string, all braided. One end has a loop to tie it off, and there's a single, little wooden charm on the end. It's the sun. "I made this for you, Bells," Jacob says, looking away sheepishly. His fingers rake through his hair and his shoulders raise and fall in a shrug. "I can be with you all the time. Sort of."

"Thanks, Jake." Bella smiles softly and lets his nimble fingers tie the bracelet to her right wrist. She admires his work and sighs. A little bit of sunlight in Forks…That's just what Jacob was to her. And she'd take a little bit more sun back to Phoenix with her now.  
-

Bella is thirteen.

It's dark and she can barely see two feet in front of her face. She trips several times, but Jacob's always there to catch her arm and steady her. "Whoa there, Bells," he says as they reach the bonfire pit. "Careful. Wouldn't want to have to take you to the hospital…" He grins an easy grin and she automatically smiles back. It's a natural reaction that she can't really help…He's always such a happy person that his good mood just seems to spread to everyone else.

"Why do you guys have to do these things when it's dark, anyway?" Bella complains as she sinks down onto one of the logs around a roaring fire. Her left hand is toying with the little wooden sun charm at the end of her bracelet. She's never taken it off. Not yet.

"Because," Jacob says, sighing and sliding his hands into his pockets. He's still standing, and Bella finds that strange. Jake always sits next to her. He's shifting his wait from foot to foot, almost anxiously, and his smile has disappeared, though there's the faint undertone of laughter in his voice. "It usually needs to be dark to have a bonfire, Bella." He rolls his eyes at her.

Bella sighs and stretches her legs out towards the fire. She's cold. Granted, wearing shorts in Forks wasn't the wisest thing to do, but it was July for God's sake! She's glad she has Jacob's oversized sweatshirt to compensate for her lack of preparation, but she vaguely wonders if he's cold. Jacob looks odd silhouetted by the fire, half of his profile cast in shadow, and the other half lit up orange by the flames. He looks like he's thinking. Hard.

"Jake?"

"Hmm?"

"What exactly are we-" He holds up a hand to stop her and jerks his head toward the middle of the pit. An older boy Bella's heard Jacob call Sam is standing at the center of a group of kids, all noticeably the same age –or younger- than he is. Bella's one of the oldest here and she wonders what this bonfire is about anyway.

"When the moon is round and full," Sam Uley says, stepping around the fire and throwing in a mixture of feathers and spices and sand. They catch in the wind and swirl for a moment before the fire engulfs them, flames licking up the feathers before they disappear completely. Bella is mesmerized, but she notices out of the corner of her eye that Jacob is watching her, his lips curled up in the shadow of a smile. "We are closest to our brothers in the forest. And we would do best to remember…"

He paused then, and Bella thinks that something big is about to happen. She leans forward expectantly, and is surprised when Sam Uley makes eye contact with Jacob. Jacob nods and takes a step forward. "The legend claims that we descended from wolves…and that the wolves are our brothers still…"

He speaks with an eloquence that doesn't sound like an eleven-year-old boy. He weaves a tale of wolves and humans, of wives and husbands, of wars and warriors. And Bella can't look away, not even for a minute.

Jacob tells her later that he doesn't believe the stories, but Billy does. And he just wants to make his dad happy.  
-

Bella turns fourteen.

She decides that she's too old to be running off to Forks every summer and has Charlie come and visit her instead.

No one tells Jacob this. He spends an entire week sitting on his front porch and waiting for Charlie's cruiser to roll up. It never does, and Jacob worries.

It's not until he answers a phone call from Charlie asking what's happening with the Mariners because they don't get their games down in Phoenix that Jacob realizes she's not coming this year.

He hangs up the phone with a lingering sense of loss.  
-

Bella still wears the bracelet.

Stubbornly, obstinately, the little sun charm presses against her wrist as she rests her arm on her desk during school. When she writes, it falls into her palm in an almost annoying way. But she can't bring herself to take it off. The ends of the yarn are fraying and she's broken off a few of the sun's rays, but it reminds her of Jacob.

And she does think about him, sometimes, and she feels bad about not keeping in touch with him…But the feeling bad comes less often than the thinking about him. After all, Jacob Black is nothing but a childhood friend and she's growing up now.

One day, while Bella is taking a shower, the bracelet's strings come apart. The yarn frays and she tosses it away. She keeps the little sun charm, but it's shoved into a drawer of her jewelry box, only to be forgotten.

The boy who gave it to her follows not long after.  
-

Jacob is fifteen when Bella moves to Forks.

He is excited to have his friend back, of course, but he's a little wary. After all, she left without a warning three years ago. But he can't be mad at her long, because she's Bella and he's Jacob and they just _fit_. As soon as he hops out of his father's old truck, he grins. And, as if no time has passed, a slow smile spreads across Bella's face, too.

"Hey, Bells." Bella doesn't miss the fact that his eyes automatically dart down to her wrist or the faint frown when he notices she's not wearing his bracelet. But it doesn't linger and soon he's smiling again, face all white teeth and dimples. "Long time no see."

"Yeah, sorry about that." Bella does him the courtesy of looking ashamed and looks at the ground. Jacob shrugs. "So, what brings you guys here?"

"Charlie and Billy are going to watch the game." He pauses and pats the rusty, red truck affectionately. "And I think you're getting something out of it, too."

"What? Really?" Bella's eyes widen and she pulls open the driver's side drawer of the truck. "It's mine?"

"Sure, sure," he says, nodding. "I actually fixed it up. The clutch is a little shaky, but it still runs alright." Jacob chuckles softly, a low, throaty sound. "Actually, I'm glad you like it. I had to get rid of it so Billy will let me start work on my Volkswagen…"

"You fixed it." Bella doesn't sound surprised. Jacob has always been good with his hands.  
-

Bella is seventeen when she has her first 'serious' boyfriend.

His name is Mike Newton and he's adorable in that puppy-dog sort of way. He'd liked her since her very first day at Forks High and, after getting to know him, she'd decided to take him up on his offer. Movies, prom, the works. And they're good together. Mike was everything a first boyfriend should be. He was kind and he loved her and she (might have) loved him, too.

But like all good things, Mike-and-Bella came to an end. It was a rough end, really, with Bella getting fed up with Mike's constant presence in her life. She never had any time alone…And once she'd told him that, Mike seemed to get the hint. He wasn't around as much. He gave Bella her space. And she even started to miss him a bit. She missed his wry grin and his tousled blond hair and those pale blue eyes. She missed the way he said _I love you, Bella_ and seemed to really mean it.

So, late one Saturday night, Bella drove her truck to Mike's house. She knocked, but no one answered, and so she used the spare key under the mat. And she walked right in on Mike Newton cheating on her with Jessica Stanley.

That was the end of it. Bella didn't think she'd be so upset, considering she'd been thinking of ending it only weeks previous, but she was. First loves are always hard to get over, and Mike Newton was no different. But even when he came to Charlie's doorstep with chocolates and flowers begging for her forgiveness, Bella refused. Not because she didn't forgive him (because they still remained friends) but because she knew he wasn't 'the one'. High school relationships were meant to end, and theirs had.  
-

Jacob Black came over to look at Bella's truck soon after her breakup.

The truck's brakes had been acting up lately and Billy had said Jacob would know how to fix it. Even though she'd pretty much solidified her breakup with Mike herself, Bella still wasn't particularly happy about it. But she'd spent two days sitting in her room listening to Linkin Park and decided she needed some sort of distraction. So she walked downstairs and plopped herself on the porch steps to watch Jacob work.

She was silent for a while, just watching as he leaned over the hood of the truck, every so often pausing to reach for a tool in the box at his feet. His muscles would tense as he loosened something here or tighten as he reached for something farther back in the hood. And once or twice, the bottom of his t-shirt would slip up just a little bit, so she could see a thin strip of dark skin beneath the white fabric. She was beginning to feel self-conscious and wondered whether she should leave when Jacob spoke.

"I've known you were there for the last five minutes, Bells." Bella's eyes widen. "If you wanted to look, all you had to do was ask…"

Bella blushed, but stayed, just to talk. Jacob Black was a good listener. He listens to her rant about Mike, and Jessica, and life. And, after he fixes the valve that needed replacing and wipes his dirty hands on his clean t-shirt, he leans against the hood of the truck and shrugs. "Maybe you just need time to yourself." He raises his eyebrows at her in a knowing sort of way. Bella frowns.

A car pulls up to the driveway and honks. Jacob turns to go. He pauses, throws a look over his shoulder, and says, "Come see me sometime. I miss you, y'know." And then he's gone and Bella's left wondering what exactly just happened.  
-

Bella doesn't wait long to go and see him. It's only the next day that she makes a spot for herself in his garage, sits down in the passenger seat of the Rabbit, and reads gossip magazines as he works. Almost every day after school is spent with Jacob, either watching him work on his car, or a pair of old motorbikes Embry found by the side of the road, or walking along the beach. Jacob likes to talk, which is nice, because sometimes Bella doesn't have much to say. But sometimes, they just walk in silence, and Jacob always takes the opportunity to take her hand in his and swing it absently. He never says anything, but Bella thinks he might be thinking of her as more than a friend.

And a nagging voice in the back of her head says she might be thinking the same thing.  
-

"Come on, Bella," Jacob sighs.

"Are you _trying_ to kill me, Jake? I trip over my own feet on a daily basis!"

"But I'll be driving the entire time! All you need to do is hold on." He doesn't let her get another word in and hands a helmet off to her. Bella stares at him, but it doesn't look like he's backing down. So, with a resigned sigh, she shoves the helmet onto her head and adjusts the buckle. Jacob's already on the seat of the sleek, black motorcycle. It's huge. Bella hesitates.

"Bella," Jacob says, his voice losing the irritated tone it had held just moments before. "I won't let anything happen to you. I promise." He pats the seat beside him and, without much hesitation, she comes to sit behind him. She does hesitate on where to put her hands. At first, she just sets them on top of his shoulders, but Jacob's getting so tall that it's a bit awkward. Jacob barks out a laugh, a deep, echoing sound crawling from his chest.

"Jeez, Bells," he says, moving to wrap her arms loosely around his waist. "For someone who doesn't want to die, you've got a pretty weak grip…" And then, without warning, he starts the bike and releases the clutch and then they're flying. Jacob's hair, even in its ponytail, whips about in the breeze as he leans low over the handlebars. Bella's heart is in her throat, her arms in a death grip around his waist. She buries her face into his back and jams her eyes shut. Watching all of the trees zoom passed as blurs of green is making her sick.

But _this_, her face buried into the leather of Jacob's jacket, her arms wrapped tightly around him, the wind whistling passed, isn't so bad. In fact, she thinks she might like it.  
-

"I want to go cliff diving."

Jacob looks up from the inside of the Rabbit, eyebrows arching back towards his hairline. He cleans out his ears with a finger. "What? I must have misheard you…"

Bella sticks her tongue out at him and leans forward on her seat. "The other day you said you guys do it for fun." She tips her head to the side, trying to gauge his reaction. But Jacob's always been better at reading Bella than the other way around. "Besides, it's _your_ fault for giving me a taste of adrenaline with those bikes."

"The bikes are different." Jacob sets the wrench he's holding down and reaches for the can of soda resting on his workbench. He takes a sip before continuing. "See, I control the bike when we're riding. You'd have to jump all on your own and, knowing you, you might hit your head on the way down and get a concussion."

Bella rolls her eyes. "Thank you for that vote of confidence, Jake."

Jacob shrugs. "I speak the truth."

Bella doesn't respond directly, because he's half right. "Well, why don't you go first and show me how to do it. And then you'd be down there to save me if I start to drown." Jacob doesn't shoot the idea down right away. In fact, he seems to be considering. After a moment, he sighs loudly and speaks.

"Okay, okay. Let's do this." Jacob's already pulling off his tool belt and heading for the garage door.

Bella's eyes widen. "Now?"

"Well, yeah. Unless you're scared." Jacob raises his eyes in a challenge. Bella stares at him for a moment before getting to her feet and following him.

"Fine!"

So they take the truck up to the cliffs (Jacob insists on the lower one) and prepare to dive. The wind is harsh against her face, and Bella reaches to pull her hair back in a ponytail. Her hands are shaking, so it takes a few minutes. Jacob's staring at her with a look that says _I-told-you-so. _What he actually says is- "Are you sure about this?"

"Yes," Bella replies, not because she _is_ sure, but because she doesn't want to let Jacob know she's scared out of her mind. "Now show me what to do." Jacob toes the edge of the cliff, takes a deep breath, and jumps. It looks effortless –like all he did was just fall right off the cliff. Still, she breathes a sigh of relief when his dark head breaks the surface of the water. She can do that. Right?

Bella walks to the edge of the cliff and takes a deep breath. The air is colder up here and the wind is harsh against her skin. It would be easy to just drive the truck down and meet him, but Jacob is waving up at her and she thinks he's smirking. And no way she's going to let him be right.

She jumps.

It's the scariest three seconds of her life, and that thing about life flashing before your eyes is totally true. Except all Bella saw was Jacob. Seventeen years of Jacob Black. She saw a little boy getting out of his mother's car, the same boy at a funeral, an older, but still grinning, Jacob giving her a friendship bracelet. Jacob telling stories. Jacob fixing her car…Jacob's hand in hers on the beach, Jacob's motorcycle, Jacob's warm, inviting smile…

And then she hit the water. Hard. Bella struggled for a moment, the waves giving her a beating. But then she's at the surface, gulping fresh air greedily, but she can't recall even moving. There are warm arms wrapped around her and Jacob's voice is in her ear.

"Jesus, Bella," he says, breathless. "Daydreaming while cliff diving?"  
-

Bella and Jacob go to a movie.

It's Halloween, and the new slasher flick is out. It's Jacob's choice, of course. Bella absolutely hates the sight of blood. But when they get to the theatre, tickets for that show are sold out. Instead, they buy tickets to the corny new romantic movie, based on Romeo and Juliet. Jacob grudgingly buys his, muttering about wanting to go home and work on the Rabbit. Bella nudges his side with her elbow and buys him a large popcorn. This keeps him quiet through the credits.

"Oh, please," Jacob says, rolling his eyes as the film begins. He claims the armrest and leans his head on his fist, but as the film progresses, Jacob becomes more and more interested. He leans forward in his seat, brow furrowing more and more until the point when Paris and Romeo fight.

"This is stupid," Jacob hisses, pointing at the screen. "She's known Romeo for like a day and Paris forever and she's still going after Romeo! She could be happy with Paris, probably, if she gave the guy a chance." He sounds annoyed and a little hurt. His hand is back on the armrest, palm up.

Bella blinks at him, gaze torn away from the screen. Jacob watches Paris fall with somber eyes and Bella reaches for his hand and gives it a soft squeeze. Jacob is surprised, but he squeezes her hand back lightly. "Well, Jake," Bella breathes. "This play is all about star-crossed lovers. But do you know how often that happens in real life?"

Jacob smirks. "Not very often."

"Right. Besides, it's not like I even _have_ a Romeo."

Jacob seems content with that answer and he settles in to watch the rest of the movie. He doesn't give her hand back, though.

Bella doesn't pay much attention to the rest. She might not have a Romeo, but she _did_ have a Paris…  
-

"Ah, Bella?"

"Yeah?"

"Can I ask you something?"

Bella looks up at him, her eyebrows raising over her magazine. He's caught her attention now. "You already did."

"Right. Well…" Jacob's flustered. He's standing over by his finished car, the hood popped open, though he's not even looking at it. He trails his fingers through his hair and looks at the worn laces of his tennis shoes. "Do you want to…do something Friday night?" He sounds dubious.

"I thought we already had plans?"

"Yeah, right. Well…how about something different?" He's hedging. Bella sets her magazine down and sits up from her sprawled out position in the passenger seat of the Rabbit.

"Like what?"

"Well," Jacob says, drawing out the word. He's still not looking at her. "Would you maybe…go to my Junior Prom with me? I know it's lame and all but Billy suggested it and I just-"

Bella finds his rambling sort of adorable. She holds up a hand to stop him. "Of course I'll go with you, Jake."

He blinks. "Really?"

"Sure, sure."  
-

So Jacob picks her up in the Rabbit on Friday night and he gives her a blue flower because it's her favorite color. It clashes horrible with her red dress but she doesn't mind. She even wears it all night just to make sure he doesn't feel bad about it. He wears a suit and takes the jacket off halfway through dinner. His tie is blue, too, matching her flower and not the dress. The photographer grumbles about making the picture black and white so no one will notice. Bella tells him not to bother and that she'd like it the way it is.

Quil and Embry sit with them and Bella makes small talk with their dates. But mostly, she looks at Jacob, who keeps fiddling with something in his pocket. She wonders what it is, but doesn't ask, because he's Jake and she's Bella and she's sure he'll tell her eventually. They dance and they request crazy 80's songs and they laugh a lot. But mostly, they just sit. Jacob's not much into dancing.

But when the DJ gives his final curtain call and the slow music begins drifting out of the speakers, Jacob turns to Bella and holds out his hand. "Wanna dance?" She nods and he leads her to the dance floor. His hands are hesitant as they settle upon her waist and Bella wraps her arms around his neck. They sway back and forth to the music and Bella worries about stepping on his feet. Jacob chuckles and leans down to whisper in her ear.

"Don't worry about it. I can carry you." And, just like that, she's standing on top of Jacob's dress shoes and he's moving them gently back and forth. Without having to worry about stomping all over his feet, she can let herself enjoy this more. Bella's head rests upon his chest and she can feel his heartbeat thudding from his chest to her ear. It's fast-paced, as if he's nervous. This thought makes her smile.

"Hey, Jake?"

"Yeah?"

"Thanks for asking me."

"No worries."  
-

They drive home in silence. Jacob's tie is thrown somewhere in the backseat and Bella's kicked her shoes off. The radio is playing softly in the background, but, for the most part, it's quiet. But it's not the awkward kind of silence that most people dread. For Jacob and Bella, they can share a silence and still feel comfortable, like home. Bella finally breaks the silence."So, was it as bad as you thought?"

He shakes his head, but doesn't turn his gaze away from the road. "No. Not with you there."

"Good."

"Did you have fun, Bells?"

"I did. Thanks again, Jake." He shrugs his shoulders like it wasn't his fault she had a good time at all. The Rabbit pulls into the driveway. The front lights are still on. Charlie's still awake, then, probably waiting up for her. Bella sighs at the thought and pushes her door open. "Great. Now I have to put these heels back on…"

"No you don't." Jacob's already at her door and he opens his arms for her. She gives him a look that says she has no idea what he's doing. Jacob sighs and lifts her from her seat. "At least let me _pretend_ to be a gentleman for one night…"Bella squeaks softly as he carries her to the front porch. She's got her shoes in one hand and the other is wrapped firmly around his neck for balance. He sets her promptly on her feet once they reach the porch. "Well," he says, hands in his pockets again. "Goodnight, Bella." He pauses for a moment, expression thoughtful, and then he leans forward to press his lips lightly against hers. Jacob breaks away and steps back, but Bella's arm is around his neck again, her breath warm against his face as she pulls him back. Her lips open and close over his, tight and soft. Jacob is motionless for but a second before his lips respond, gentle at first, but eager. Her arms are around his neck and his hands are at her waist and they break apart only when they need to breathe.

Jacob's grinning in a bemused sort of way and Bella's touching her lips with her fingertips. His hand is in his pocket again. He finally withdraws the object inside, a silver bracelet with a single charm upon it. It reminds her of one from very long ago, but this one is more durable and the charm is different. It's a little wooden wolf and Bella recalls the campfire stories from summers passed. He reaches for her wrist and fastens the bracelet there, still grinning faintly. "I figured you'd need something a little bit stronger than string this time…"

Bella admires the bracelet and then promptly throws her arms around his neck, burying her face into his chest and inhaling the scent of pine trees and motor oil and _Jacob_ that she's come to love so much. His arms loop around her waist and it feels like home. The door behind them opens and Charlie steps out. He glances between Jacob and Bella and sighs loudly.

"It's about time…"


	2. The Runaways

**Author's Note: **Well, here's part two. It's loosely based off of a conversation Jake and Bella had during New Moon. You'll figure it out.

**DISCLAIMER:** I don't own Jacob, Bella, or Twilight. I am only responsible for their fictional corruption.

**

* * *

**

**II.**

"Hey, Jake…"

"What do you want, Quil?" Jacob's voice comes out as more of a growl, deep, angry. Quil takes a step back instinctively. Jacob doesn't like the way Quil is looking at him. It's a hollow, pitiful sort of expression and Quil's eyes have dark circles, like he isn't getting enough sleep. Jacob's already turning to walk away, but Quil takes several steps forward and places his hand on his friend's shoulder.

"What's up with you lately? You were never even friends with Sam before, and Leah's been wondering-"

Jacob rounds on him and shrugs Quil's hand off his shoulder. "Tell Leah to stop worrying. She'll find out soon enough." It sounds like a warning. His gaze lingers for a moment. "And the same goes for you, too, Quil. Just…" There's a shadow of the old Jacob then, just barely noticeable before the hard mask of indifference reappears. "Just let me go, okay?" He turns and leaves, disappearing into the thin line of trees surrounding the house.

Jacob hesitates for a moment, looking up at the dark, angry clouds. He frowns as he throws a glance over his shoulder. Quil has already disappeared, back to his truck, to go back home. Jacob feels bad, he really does, but there's nothing he can do. It's a part of him now, a big, threatening, monstrous part. His body shakes at the thought, but not with rage this time, or cold. Just with fear. The wolf whines softly within him, but he pushes it aside stubbornly. It'd only been a few weeks, really, but he's already better at it than Paul and Jared, nearly as good as Sam. He could contain it…Sam calls him a natural.

Jacob sneers. A natural _werewolf._ What a compliment. But what else can he do? He has to have a pack, if he's going to be a werewolf…Vaguely, he thinks back to his conversations with Bella. _Could you maybe…_not_ be a werewolf? _At the time, he'd laughed in her face. It hadn't seemed possible at all…But now, he thinks he'd probably be able to suppress the wolf within him. Sam said that, eventually, all wolves stopped phasing anyway…Why not now? If he let the animal lay dormant long enough, maybe he'd be able to let it go for good…

_What if we ran away, just you and me? What if we left Sam behind?_Jacob squares his shoulders, turns away from the forest, and ignores the lingering tug of the Alpha. It's not as strong if he isn't in wolf form, and he manages to clomp back up the porch steps and into the house. He reaches for the kitchen phone and punches in speed dial number 3, is already rummaging through the fridge as it rings. Once, twice, three times. _Pick up, _he thinks desperately. _Come on, Bells_.

"Hey, Charlie," he says gruffly, moving the phone between his ear and shoulder and catching the fridge door with his foot as he begins methodically assembling a massive sandwich. "Is Bella there? Thanks…" He waits, suddenly very anxious. Had she been serious about that?

He hopes so. He really does. There's a bit of static as the phone is passed, and he hears Bella ask who it is. A grin lights up his features when Charlie says _Jake_ and Bella says _Really? Okay, give me the phone! _and he can almost hear the smile he's just put on her face just by making a simple phone call. And now he's smiling, too, lips quirking upward in the ghost of his former grin. It feels strange on his face, unfamiliar. He's been wearing Sam's mask for so many days that a smile feels unnatural

"Jake?" Bella breathes, and he hears her unease. "Is something wrong?"

He barks out a laugh, a hollow imitation of the one Bella knows. "Jeez, Bells, if I'm gonna get that kind of reaction I'll be sure to call more often…" Jacob's finished making his large sandwich, but he realizes he's not really hungry. Well, he is (he's _always_ hungry now), but he doesn't feel much like eating. He's sick inside, thinking too hard about the pack and the wolf and why he's so _good_ at it. He shoves the sandwich back into the fridge for Billy and turns to lean against the kitchen counter. "I'm fine. How are you?"

Bella sighs. "I'm…fine." _Fine. _She's used that word so many times in these past few weeks that Jacob's learned to associate _fine_ with_ falling apart_. It hurts to know that he's the one hurting her now, the one who put that cautious tone in her voice. But he doesn't challenge her since he's given the same answer. They're both being evasive. Her voice is soft when she speaks again, careful. "What made you decide to call?"

Jacob shifts the phone to the other ear, licks his suddenly dry lips. "Well…" His voice has gotten quiet, too, almost nervous. Bella thinks that's funny. He's not the nervous type. Big, bad Jacob Black is tripping over his words. She chuckles softly. Jacob hesitates for another moment, fingers going to his now-short hair. "You know what you said before, about just getting outta here?" He doesn't wait for her to respond before he continues, words coming out fast and jumbled, like one long sentence. "I-think-I-can-maybe-try-to-not-be-a-werewolf. If you still wanna go, that is."

She's quiet, and Jacob starts backpedaling quickly. "I mean, if you were just kidding, I guess I am, too. It's just…" His words trail off into a sigh and he shakes his head. "I never wanted to be this…thing. And now I am and sometimes it feel good to be running out there in the forest. But most of the time, I feel like a monster." He sighs into the receiver and his voice drops. "I'm scared, Bells. I don't wanna do this."

He sounds very young then, very honest. Scared._ Her_ Jacob.

"Let's do it, Jake. Let's get out of here…"

What did she have here, anyway, besides painful reminders of _him_? Charlie would worry, but he and Billy would figure it out eventually…That college fund could be put to some use since she hadn't bothered to apply anywhere. "Really?" Jacob says, surprised.

"Sure, sure," Bella mutters. "But we need to do it soon." Before she lost her nerve.

"Okay. I'll see you tonight?"

"Yeah."

"Okay. And Bella?"

She pauses in the action of hanging up the phone, worry creasing her forehead. "Yeah?"

"Thanks."

"No worries."  
-

They leave under the cover of darkness. Bella parks her noisy truck down the street and Jacob drags his overstuffed duffle bag out of his bedroom window. They stop to load up the motorcycles just in case, and Bella keeps tripping over nonexistent tree roots. By the time they reach her idling truck again, they're both out of breath –Bella from running and Jacob from laughter. She swats at him half-heartedly. "It's not funny," she grumbles, leaning her bike against the truck. "I nearly got myself killed back there."

Jacob doesn't laugh, though his eyes are dancing with unspoken laughter. "Not that that's anything new, Bella…" And then she's laughing and he's laughing again and a light goes on to their left. Jacob curses under his breath and Bella scrambles into the cab of the truck. Jacob barely gets the second motorcycle into the truck bed before she stomps on the gas, and he jogs a little to catch up and jump into the bed behind the bikes. "I think," he says, settling down and talking loudly over the roar of the engine. "We need to find a quieter getaway car…"  
-

They stop off first in Seattle. It's almost light out by the time they get there…Jacob had insisted on stopping off for 'dinner' at around three a.m. They'd found a Denny's and Stefan, their waiter, had been really surprised with how much Jacob had been able to eat. "This is fine, Bells," Jacob says, hopping out of the truck and going to haul his bag and hers out from the back. He slings the strap of his duffle over his shoulder and tucks her bag under one arm. "You just go get the key, honey. You look exhausted…" He'd tried to get her to let him drive (he had fixed the truck in the first place), but she'd insisted that he should try to sleep.

Admittedly, he hadn't been getting much sleep at all what with the constant patrolling back home, but he didn't sleep anyway. The radio didn't play the entire car ride (Bella didn't like music anymore, and Jacob didn't complain). They just sat and talked. At one point, they'd started playing 'I Spy', but that was kind of difficult when it was so dark outside. Eventually, they just sat in silence. It was a warm, amiable sort of quiet, though, nothing like the ones Bella knew from her bedroom. The ache was almost gone when she sat and listened to Jacob talk about Quil and Embry, and then about how he'd tried to do this once before, when he was eleven.

She was laughing again.

"Okay," Bella finally mutters, shuffling into the lobby of Sleep Inn and asking for a room. Jacob lingers in the background, glancing over his shoulder every few seconds. Bella returns with a key-card and a handful of brochures.

"What's this?" Jacob asks, eyebrows pulling together as he plucks one of the pamphlets from her._Travel Washington _is splashed across the front in colorful letters. He raises his eyebrows at her in question, but she just takes his elbow and pulls him towards the elevator. The doors shut with a _ding_.

"I guess I thought we could do some sight-seeing while we run." She shrugs and stifles a yawn. "But if you don't want to…" The elevator doors open on the seventh floor. Jacob shakes his head.

"No, no," he disagrees, hitching his bag up on his shoulder as Bella leads them down the quiet hallway. Most sane people are out and about by now. "We can do that. Sure." Bella throws a grin over her shoulder and slides the key-card into room 717's slot and pushes it open.

"Oh, crap," Bella sighs, exasperated.

"Whoa," Jacob says, dropping the bags in the doorway. "Language, Bells. What's wrong?" He steps fully into the room to take whatever's wrong. Maybe there's a bad view or the TV's broken. Nope. Everything looks normal. He opens his mouth to say so, but then his gaze falls upon the single bed. Bella's blushing and looking off to the side. Jacob shrugs easily. "It's cool, Bella. We can just get another room."

"No," Bella says. "We can't. They're completely booked."

Jacob blinks, rakes his fingers through his hair. "Well," he breathes out. "You take the bed, then. I'll crash on the floor." He's already reaching for a couple of the pillows to make himself a suitable nest on the ground. Bella's lips are pursed.

"No, it's okay, Jake," she says, but she sounds cautious, almost reluctant to agree. Jacob shakes his head stubbornly.

"Bella," he draws out the syllables of her name and gives her a look that quite clearly says _stop being difficult._"Jake," she replies wearily, eyes closing for the briefest of moments. Jacob thinks she looks so adorably _human_ in that moment that he concedes. Although a little part of him had been hoping she'd stick to her guns…Bella could be stubborn when she wanted to be, and he wasn't going to argue with her much this time.

"Fine," he sighs, shoulders raising and falling in a weak shrug. He tosses the pillows back onto the bed and flops down, throwing his arms up behind his head. "But I take up a lot of the bed, you know…" Bella shoots him a wry smile and mutters something about taking a shower. "Sure, sure." Jacob leans back against the pillows and flicks on the television.

Bella leaves.  
-

She returns twenty minutes later with damp hair and pajamas to find Jacob fast asleep on top of the covers, curled up curiously into a ball on his side. He looks sort of small then, young. His face is free of the hard worry lines she'd seen in the past few days. His eyes are closed, so there's no chance of that hard edge coming back to his dark pupils. And his lips are quirked up in a smile. _Her_ Jacob. He looks so peaceful now, calm and worry-free. And Bella thinks he's never looked more beautiful than in that moment.

Yes, beautiful. No _sort of_ to tack on there now, not in the comfort of her own mind.

Bella slips into bed beside him, wiggles under the covers and turns over onto her side to face him. She watches as his mouth twitches, as if something's funny. She wonders what he's dreaming about. He mumbles something in his sleep. Bella leans forward a bit, trying to catch it. "Bella," he barely whispers and she doesn't breathe for a moment. "Why are you watching me sleep?"

She blushes and rolls over onto her other side. "I'm not," she replies, but her voice shakes with the last syllable. Jacob barks out a laugh and throws an arm over her. Bella wants to protest, but he's warm and inviting and he smells kind of like home, so she just remains silent and buries herself farther into the blankets.

"'night, Bells."

"Goodnight, Jake…"  
-

Jacob wakes up first the next…day. They'd slept clear through the day and into tomorrow, but time isn't an issue here. It's not like they have any set schedule…He thinks they'll just drive across the United States, and once they find somewhere they like, they'll stick around for a while. He knows it won't last forever, but until he can silence the wolf still sleeping in his chest, he'll have to be as far away from La Push and its vampires as he can get.

It strikes him then just who he's sleeping next to and he grins, looking down to find that Bella's somehow managed to throw all of the blankets to the floor during the night. He'd put the air conditioning on somewhere around eight o'clock last night, and, to her, it must have been a bit chilly. Sometime between eight o'clock last night and dawn this morning, Bella had rolled in to him. She was curled tight against him now, arms folded against his chest and one of her legs impossibly tangled with his. His arm is around her and Jacob doesn't remember putting it there. Subconscious? Maybe.

The alarm clock goes off just then, and he instinctively reaches over to silence it before it can disrupt Bella's rest. But she's already yawning and stretching, blurry brown eyes flicking up to meet his. "Morning, sunshine," she sputters, voice rough and thick with sleep. "Sleep good?"

Jacob nods, then looks over at the alarm clock. "You sent for a wake-up call." It's a statement, not a question. Bella nods. Jacob sighs and leans back against the pillows. Bella gets out of bed and tosses one of her pillows at him.

"Get up and dressed, Jacob Black. We needed to be on the road five minutes ago…"

"Why?" Jacob complains, burying his face into the sheets.

Bella shrugs. "Because we're close enough to Forks that maybe Sam can still get to you." Jacob's brows furrow. "Besides, I'm hungry."

"Okay. Give me ten minutes…"  
-

They're somewhere in Oregon now.

"California!" Jacob crows, grinning at her. Bella huffs indignantly.

"No fair! You have, uh…" She pauses her words to pass a particularly slow semi-truck. "You have superhuman eyesight."

Jacob turns his palms up. "I can't really help that, Bella. Besides, in a while, I won't anymore."

Bella's gaze meets his in the rearview mirror, milk chocolate meeting dark. "Are you sure you-"

"I can do it, Bella," Jacob snaps, and suddenly he's not her Jacob anymore, but Sam's, a defiant frown upon his lips and his arms crossed across his chest, as if that will keep the beast in his chest at bay. Bella frowns.

"Don't jump to conclusions, Jake," she says, turning to look at him. "I was going to say are you _sure_ you can just let it go?" He gives her the same sour look. Bella holds up a hand. "I mean, are you sure you _want _to?" This startles Jacob into silence. His eyebrows have arched back towards his hairline and he's staring at her blankly. "I know that it's hard, but the way you talked about it…Don't you like some of it?"

Jacob sighs loudly, exhaling his irritation. His expression fades back into one of mixed emotions, perhaps confusion. Again, it strikes Bella how young he looks, a boy placed into a man's body, a boy thrown into a man's war. "Sam says I'm good at it." He grins are wry grin. "Good at being a monster."

Bella shakes her head. "You're not a monster, Jake." The truck sputters to a halt at a long line of traffic. A construction delay, probably, or an accident. She turns in her seat to face him, sincerity written all over her face. _Jake, you're not a monster _is scrawled all over the crease in her forehead, the subtle dip of her lips. It's only then that Jacob realizes he's staring and he glances off to the side.

Bella takes this as shame, and she moves to rest her hand on his much larger one. He's startled when she does and her fingers recoil a bit at the warmth. But she stubbornly curls her fingers over the back of his hand. "They help people, your pack. And if you're good at that, then…" She shrugs her shoulders lamely. "I don't see why that's such a bad thing. You've always been good at saving people." _Like me_, Bella thinks, but she doesn't say so aloud.

Jacob picks his gaze up from the floor and stares at her. He's glad she knows that, because sometimes, he doubts himself. A smile ghosts over one side of his mouth and he squeezes her hand gently. "Thanks, Bells."

"Yeah, no problem." She pulls her hand away from his, but he persistently takes it back. It's not like they're moving much anyway, so she can steer fine with only one hand. Bella sighs and casts him a furtive, sideways glance. "So…do you like it at all?"

"Sure," Jacob admits, and it's the first time he's told anyone. Yeah, the others know that he's not completely unhappy, but that's only because they're in his head all the time. He hasn't _told_ anyone except Bella. And he doesn't plan to. "I like the speed. There's nothing like it, Bella. I mean, think ten times the motorcycle." He sees her lips droop and wonders what he's said now that reminds her of the blo-

The Cullens. He's trying to get better at that.

"Montana," Bella says.

Jacob grins and points to the car zooming by them in the opposite direction. "Nebraska."

"Jeez, Jake," Bella grumbles. "You could let me win _once_."

"What fun would that b-" His words trail off into nothingness and Bella's gaze follows his to the side of the road. There's a car tipped on its side there and bodies are being wheeled to the ambulance. An accident. That's what was taking so long.

But Jacob doesn't see any blood from here…

Bella stomps on the gas. "Let's get out of here…"  
-

The miles stretch out in front of them. Eventually, Jacob convinces Bella to take a rest and let him drive. She probably wouldn't have agreed to let him drive, just to stop and refuel, but they'd been passed by a sleek, silver Volvo and Jacob noticed the subtle shift in his posture, rigid-back and tight knuckles. He'd said that she shouldn't be driving on an empty stomach, but they both knew what he meant.

_You shouldn't be driving on a broken heart. You might kill someone. Accidentally, of course. _So as they cross Oregon, Jacob's at the wheel and Bella's sleeping in the passenger seat, curled up impossibly into a ball. Jacob chuckles softly, moving to extricate the book she has tucked beneath an arm. Bella stirs, but doesn't wake, grip tightening upon the old book. Jacob shakes his head and lets her keep hold on _The Catcher in the Rye. _He'd been supposed to read that book in school this year for his English Literature class….He hadn't, but he knew the basic gist of the story, and it didn't seem the type of book Bella would read and like, anyway. Maybe for school once, but there were no happy endings or great love stories in Salinger's book that Jacob knew of…

Of course, he hadn't finished the book (or even started it, really) so he wouldn't know. His attention shifts back to the road in front of him. The headlights splash a small section of road in light and his gaze goes to the clock on the dashboard. _8:37. _They should probably pull off the highway. He was tired, too, and Bella didn't look like she was in shape to drive. Jacob flicks on the turn signal, eases over onto the exit ramp. There's probably a little hotel down the road where they can stay…

Something leaps onto the bed of the truck with a startling _clang_. Jacob swerves, suddenly struck with the sickeningly sweet, too sharp scent of vampire. The wolf within him jumps to life and a low growl claws its way out of his throat. Bella's eyes snap open and, wide and brown, they search for his gaze. "Jake, what-"

"Fuck," Jacob hisses, pulling over onto the shoulder. "_Fuck._ It followed us. Stupid idiot…" He's throwing the truck's door open, his body already rippling with the change. Bella reaches out to stop him, or comfort him. He's not sure right now because he's shaking and his muscles are clenching and he's _changing_. And she's way too close.

"Jacob, let's just go," she pleads, even if she knows it's useless. If Victoria's found them, there's no way they can outrun her –truck, motorcycles or werewolf. They're stuck, and Jacob's going to try and stop her and get himself killed. All because of her. "_Please_."

"Bella, I couldn't hold it in if I tried," he says bitterly, leaping out of the truck. His feet are paws before he even hits the ground, bones shifting and growing, fingernails turning into claws, thick fur appearing as he explodes out of his skin and into his fur. A snarl rips passed his clenched teeth as the Jacob-wolf's dark, narrowed eyes settle upon the redheaded vampire perched upon the truck bed.

_You want her you have to go through me first._The vampire's smirk says _My pleasure.  
_  
Bella's eyes widen as the massive, russet wolf springs forward, knocking Victoria clear off the truck. The two scramble for a moment before Victoria ducks into the woods. Jacob hesitates for a moment, looking over his massive shoulder before following. Bella holds her breath. She's alone again and Jacob might not make it out of there alive.

And if he doesn't make it, neither will she. Bella knows that he intended for her to get out of here once he'd managed to push Victoria back into the forest, but she can't bring herself to run away, to just drive off and leave her best friend grappling with a vampire in the woods. There's nothing she can do now, but if he stumbles out of the woods bleeding and hurt, she can at least drive him to a hospital.

Besides, she's shaking so badly she doesn't think she could drive right now if she tried. He's her best friend. What is she going to do if he _doesn't_ come back?  
-

_Jacob? _Embry's surprised. _What are you doing here? Holy- fuck, what are you _doing_?_He ignores the voice in his head, another fierce growl slipping passed his muzzle. The redheaded vampire is perched in a tree, staring down at him with curious, ruby eyes. It's all clicking into place now. The accident they'd passed hadn't been an accident at all. She'd killed those people and left a fake crime scene in her wake. But Victoria was sloppy…she hadn't even left any blood at the scene except for two very clear puncture marks at the neck. And he'd been so busy trying to silence the wolf that he'd just ignored every whimper and growl at the back of his head. _Stupid_, he thought again, pacing at the base of Victoria's tree.

He would've been able to keep the wolf inside and use the enhanced senses to his advantage. But no, he'd been too interested in trying to get back to the way things were, to make himself the boy Bella knew before, that he'd ignored the signs. And now they were both in big trouble and the stupid vampire wouldn't even come down and let him try to take his anger out on her.

"Stupid dog," the vampire sighs, watching his movements. "Why can't you just let me have my revenge? It's not like she's your mate." She has the audacity to laugh and its echoed by another snarl. Jacob's fur is standing on end, ears pinned back. He's trying to decide whether or not he could reach her branch…

With lightening speed, Victoria descends from the tree. She's on top of him before he can even react, an arm locked around the wolf's massive throat. Jacob chokes and gasps, thrashing and rearing back on his hind legs in an effort to throw her off of his back, sinks his teeth into her forearm so hard that there's a sickening crack of rock-hard bones breaking. Her grip only tightens. His vision is filling with black spots, his hold on her loosens and his eyes blink closed.

"That's it. I'll even let you live, how's that? You live while she dies…You and Edward Cullen will feel what I feel." Jacob's eyes snap open as narrow slits and he yanks upward on her arm. Her shoulder dislocates with a _snap_ and Victoria recoils, hissing and baring her teeth. Jacob falls back onto all fours, gasping greedily for breath and stepping away from her. He lifts his head, bares his teeth right back, and begins circling. She does the same.

They clash.  
-

Bella only hears angry snarls and growls from here, but at least they let her know he's alive. When she growls stop, her white knuckles tighten over the steering wheel. Nothing. Silence. And then a chorus of howls fills the air. She blinks, eyes widening a bit as several wolves dart passed. There's a gray one and a brown one, a big black one that looks at her over his shoulder as he disappears. And then Embry Call is knocking at her window and Bella nearly has a heart attack. "Open up," he says, and she reaches over to unlock the door.

He hops into the cab and tells her to drive. "What? Why? What about Jacob?"

He hesitates, runs his fingers through his short hair. "The guys are taking care of it," he says and looks off to the side. "We have to get you out of here in case the vamp gets away." When she doesn't respond except for a glance tossed back to the forest, Embry ends up taking the driver's seat and turning the car around completely, headed back to Forks.

"Is he okay?" Bella asks fifteen minutes later, once the shock has worn off a little. She changes her mind before the question can be answered. "Is he alive?"

Embry sighs, nods his head. "Yes. He's alive."

Bella's heart sinks._ Her_ Jacob, hurt trying to save her. It was a very Jacob thing to do.  
-

The next day, Bella arrives at Billy's place at seven in the morning. Jacob's still sleeping, Billy says, but she can go in if she wants.

She does. Jacob looks ridiculously huge in his too-small bedroom, barely fitting into the bed. He's bundled up in blankets, which strikes her as odd, and there's an IV in his arm, dripping some black liquid into his veins. There are several small puncture wounds over his arms and neck and he's got a big bandage over his left arm. It needs changed; blood is seeping into the cloth again. He's asleep again, but this time he doesn't look young, innocent, and worry-free. Now, he looks wise beyond his years, worried, a crease in his forward. "Bella," he mutters in his sleep. "Think I might love you…"

Bella's heart clenches. He's not joking this time. That much is clear as he sighs and shifts in bed, face tightening again. Bella hovers awkwardly at the end of his bed. She's still broken. Damaged goods. She's still not over Edward, and she doesn't think Jacob deserves to love someone who's so…incapable of loving him back. But as she sits down at the edge of his bed and takes his (too cold) hand in both of hers, she thinks that maybe she could try, for Jacob. He deserves to be happy.

And she thinks she does, too.

Absently, Bella brushes the back of his hand with her thumb. Jacob's eyes flutter open, closed, open. He thinks he's probably dreaming. "Mmm. Hey, Bells," he mumbles, voice raspy and soft.

Bella's eyes jump from the little bite-marks on his arm to his face and she's surprised to find he's grinning in spite of everything. "Jake," she says, dropping his hand. "Are you okay? What happened?"

Jacob stubbornly takes her hand in his, though with not nearly as much force as he might have a day ago. She doesn't pull away. "Werewolves are pack animals. We don't do so hot against full-grown vamps on our own." He shrugs, like it's nothing, but winces as his shoulder pulls. "I'll be okay, though. There's an antidote for the venom, so as soon as it's out of my system and my arm heals up…"

"You're cold," Bella says blankly.

"Yeah. The venom does that. You should've seen me last night, shivering 'cause my temperature dropped so low. Even lower than yours." He nods and rolls his eyes. "I should've seen that coming. I'm sorry."

"_Sorry_?" Bella squeals, eyes narrowing dangerously at him. "Jacob Black, you almost died yesterday. You have nothing to be sorry about." He doesn't want to argue with her when her jaw's set like that. He thinks she looks kind of adorable. He's grinning, and Bella's annoyed. "Don't smirk at me!"

"I love you, Bella," Jacob says again, this time fully conscious. She thinks he means _I love how you screw you face up like that _but her stomach clenches regardless. A blush blossoms on her face. Coming so close to losing him…She's realized that she won't be able to function without him. _Really_. As broken as Edward left her, Bella thinks that if she lost Jacob –especially that way- she'd just curl in on herself. And she didn't think that there were many more mechanics around to put her back together again.

"I think I love you, too, Jake," she barely whispers. Jacob's eyebrows pull together and he stares at her, mouth popping open slightly. A slow grin forms upon his lips.

"About time!" He crows, leaning forward to kiss her.

Bella thinks it's strange that his lips are still so warm. It's much different than what she's used to, but he tastes like warm sodas in the garage, conversation hearts, and something that's poignantly Jacob black. Her eyes are closed and she doesn't see fireworks, but she sees the sun. Warm and bright, just outside Jacob's bedroom window, behind her eyelids. His lips are soft, bruised too from his fight with Victoria, but hers are firm and confident.

Jacob pulls away first, breathing in deeply. His nose wrinkles.

"Did you change your clothes?" Bella looks down self-consciously. "You smell like vampire…"


	3. Unbreakable Bond

**Author's Note: **Yeah, generally, I'm not a fan of the-book-that-shall-not-be named, but that's mainly just because I hate what Meyer did to Jacob. In my opinion, the book can exist if she just leaves Jake out of it, as horrible as it was. Anyhow, this is a bit of an AU from a point in BD. You'll figure out which once you read.

**DISCLAIMER: **I don't own these characters. I'm only responsible for their fictional corruption.

* * *

**III.**

"You want me to _what_?"

"I told you," Edward almost growls, his crazed, dark eyes shooting up from the dirt. It's only then that Jacob notices that Edward's eyes are nearly black, his lips pulled back over his teeth. He's literally growling at him, and Jacob would have laughed if the guy didn't look about ready to burst into flames. Jacob casts a wary glance overhead though he knows that this is Forks and it's overcast. And he also knows that vampires don't spontaneously burst into flame, as much as he'd have liked that. "I want you to talk some sense into her. Whatever it takes." Edward's normally calm, flowing voice is laced with pain and irritation now, his glare set upon Jacob.

Jacob blinks at him, breathes out loudly through his nose. "If she's not listening to you, Cullen…"

"You know her, Jacob Black." Edward cuts him off, waving his hand at him in a dismissive sort of way. The vampire is pacing across the driveway in front of the sprawling Cullen mansion now, and Jacob stands behind him, hands in pockets, looking off to the side. "You know her like I never, ever will. I don't know why that is, but you can read her while I can't. And as much as it kills me to admit this," Edward offers an ironic smile now, his lips quirking upward briefly before returning to their frown. "She won't listen to me. But she might listen to you. You're…persuasive. Obviously."

Jacob's mind inadvertently jumps to that day in the woods, the Newborn battle. Bella had kissed him then, kissed him like she meant it. And he knew she'd only done it to keep him from throwing himself off a cliff (not that he'd actually _do_ that; that was more Bella's style than his), he knew that she'd meant it. And he knew that she'd felt what he felt, too. He'd managed to convince her of that much, at least. He'd convinced Bella that she loved him (too).

Not that it made any difference in the end. The blood-sucker had won, fair and square.

"Could you please control yourself?" Edward hisses, eyes closing as he rubs his temples with his fingers. Jacob does his best to look embarrassed, cuts off his train of thought.

"Sorry," he says. He's not completely sorry, because he still thinks (_knows_) Bella would have been better off with him rather than Edward. They could have had a family together, a life together. Children with dark hair and a skin-tone just lighter than his. Children that wouldn't suck the life out of her like his spawn was doing…

"I _know_," Edward growls. _Really_ growls, and Jacob takes a step back instinctively. He's not afraid of the vampire. The wolf could easily take down one vamp, Jacob's sure of it. But he knows the rest of his coven won't be pleased, and neither will Bella. The last thing Jacob Black needs is to start a war. Edward sighs loudly, though he doesn't need to breathe, and composes himself. "And that's exactly what I'm asking of you. If it's a child Bella wants, then she can have one." Black eyes meet chocolate. Jacob looks away first, his cheeks darkening slightly with color.

"You can't be serious."

Edward nods ominously. "Believe me, it's not something I'm going to enjoy." A hollow laugh that sounds like old church bells (_Bells, Bella, honey_) rolls from Edward's lips. "But I'd rather have Bella alive and with your child than dead with mine." He's resolute, firm.

Jacob stares blankly at him. "She won't agree to that," he says. What he means is _She already picked you. She wants your freaky, monster baby. Not mine. _Jacob does his best not to meet Edward's eyes, tried to take hold of that lingering Alpha power he knows rests within him. He's been able to block the other wolves out before, just a little bit. Perhaps he can do the same with Edward?

But Edward shakes his head, takes a step forward so that he and Jacob are eye-to-eye. "_Convince her_," he snarls, his words like daggers. His tone softens, voice barely above a whisper. Jacob has to lean down to hear him. "Please. Not for me. For her."

"You think I want her to die?" Jacob replies, incredulous. He throws up his arms and turns to stalk back to the house. He tosses Edward a glance over his shoulder. "I'll try," he grumbles. "But I'm not making any promises…"  
-

"Bells?" It's pitch black when he enters the Cullens' living room. The blinds are all pulsed against the nonexistent Forks sunlight and Jacob thinks that maybe she's trying to prepare herself for the eternal darkness that vampirism will bring. Then he remembers that she's not dead (yet) and takes a step farther into the room. "Are you okay?"

Bella grumbles and rolls over, a mass of blankets on the couch. She hauls herself to a crumpled, but technically upright, position and turns to stare at whoever's woken her up. The irritated expression on her face fades, pursed lips fading into a wry smile, and Jacob looks away, annoyed. She always looks so _damn happy_ to see him and it makes no sense considering the choices she's made so far. "Oh," she says, brushing her greasy hair away from her face. "Hi, Jake. What's up?" Her tone is far too casual for the situation and Jacob just raises his eyebrows at her. Bella's smile remains for a moment before her face crumbles in pain.

Jacob's eyebrows arch higher.

Bella says nothing.

"Bella…" He draws out the syllables of her name and she just stares at him, eyes bright. She looks too pale, too skinny for someone carrying a baby, too sick. But she's still got that motherly glow about her, still wears that too-happy smile. The thing inside her is killing her and she's still smiling at him and motioning for him to come closer.

"Jake," she responds, wrapping an arm protectively over the bump in her stomach. Jacob sighs loudly and Bella gives him a firm stare. "I know what you're thinking…"

"No," Jacob says walking to meet her at the couch. He hesitates before just sitting cross-legged on the floor, his back against the couch. Bella ruffles his hair in what he thinks is supposed to be a teasing way, but he shivers and moves his head away. Bella frowns. "I _really_ don't think you know just what I'm thinking…" It had always been the other way around, anyway. Jacob had always been able to read Bella, and sometimes, she could read him, too. But he was never quite such an open book as she was. And Jacob knew this was a long shot. She loved that baby growing inside her, draining her, probably as much (if not more) as she loved her vampire.

"Well, give it to me, then," Bella sighs, rolling her eyes at him in a patronizing way. She's acting like he's trying to sell her some sort of worthless product, not about to campaign to save her life.

Jacob echoes her sigh. "You can't do this, Bella. It's killing you from the inside out…"

"_He_ isn't an it, Jacob."

"Oh," he says dryly. "It's a boy? Congrats." The sarcasm dripping from his tone is almost tangible. Jacob turns around so that's he's on his knees, their faces very close, nearly touching. He can feel her warm breath playing about his skin. "No. This is selfish, Bella. You're going to die. Don't you get it? If it –_he_- doesn't kill you before you can even deliver, then there's no way you'll make it out anyway. How's that baby going to get out of you anyway? You die, the kid lives, and you hurt _everyone_ else." Bella opens her mouth to argue, but Jacob places his fingers at her lips to silence her.

"No_, listen_! You'll leave me behind, okay. But not just me. But _him_, too! He's out there _begging_ _me_ to convince you not to go through with it. He says if you die, he goes with you." Jacob shakes his head, rubs at his eyes with the back of his hand. When he next speaks, his voice is quieter, more subdued. "You'll leave the pixie vampire behind, and her mate, and all the rest of them. And what about Charlie? What am I supposed to tell him, huh? Don't do this, Bella. _Please_."

She's silent for a moment, and Jacob thinks that maybe, just maybe, he's finally gotten to her. But she just shakes her head, her arm tightening around her middle. "It's my _baby_, Jake," Bella answers. "And he's Edward's, too. I want to leave a part of him here. A part of me, too. I won't be gone…Not really."

"You're insane," Jacob snaps, leaning away from Bella's touch. She's reaching for him, asking for his permission to go and kill herself. And he won't give it. Edward hasn't stopped fighting for her life yet, and neither will he. "Edward doesn't want a piece of you, Bella. He wants all of you."

"It's not his choice."

"You won't see your kid's first day of school, Bella. You won't see me graduate. You won't see if Alice's next vision comes true." Jacob's words are desperate, his eyes searching hers for some spark of realization. She's stubborn and her jaw is set.

"I don't care."

"You don't care about me enough to live?" Jacob says quietly, leaning away from her and getting to his feet. "Fine. But what about Edward? You don't care about _him_ enough to live?" He slides his hands into his pockets and heads for the door. He doesn't look back as his hand closes around the doorknob. Cold, like everything else in this house. Cold, like she'll be soon. "I'm not gonna stick around and watch you die, Bella. I'm leaving."

"Jake, wait!"

He turns around, shoulders raised in anticipation. "You…you won't stay with me?"

Jacob shakes his head. His jaw is set now. "No. What's the point?"

Bella's reaching for him again, arms outstretched and asking him a question. He thinks it's different this time, though. It's strange, because he can't quite read what she's thinking now. She's not his open book anymore. "I don't want to lose my baby, Jacob. I love him…Both of them."

Jacob sighs. "You can have a baby, Bella. But one that doesn't kill you would be nice."

She stares at him, lips pursed as if that's the most ridiculous suggestion in the world. "You want me to substitute my baby for some generic substitute?"

"No," Jacob answers too quickly. Bella looks at him expectantly. "With…my baby." These words are spoken to the floor, his gaze directed on his shoelaces. Bella is silent, and Jacob looks up. Her expression is one of shock, but he doesn't see anger. Traces of surprise, but not anger.

"That's…ridiculous."

"He's already given me permission," Jacob says almost mockingly. "Just…live. If not for me, for him." Jacob's annoyed that he's basically regurgitating Edward's previous words. But he can't think of another way to say it. "_Please_. And we don't have to…Just, live, okay? If I can see you turn nineteen, that'd be great."

Bella lifts her gaze to his. "Fine."  
-

"There will be some pressure, Bella," Carlisle says from his end of the table. Edward is standing resolutely at her side, her fingers gripped tightly in his. "And then we're going to have to give you some blood…It looks like you've lost a good deal." Edward tenses at this, but his expression soon relaxes. He's stiff, standing at her side.

"Where's Jacob?" Bella asks suddenly, and Edward's calm demeanor falters, his forehead creasing before he rearranges his features into an indifferent stare.

"Outside. Why do you ask?"

"I think I…I'd like him to be here." Bella looks up at Edward. "Too," she tacks on, to reassure him that she's picked him. She just needs her best friend, too, that's all. Edward nods, almost imperceptibly, and then he's gone. In the blink of an eye he's gone, and right on his heels is Jacob. He offers Bella what he hopes is a reassuring smile before taking his place on Bella's other side.

"You stayed."

"I said I would," Jacob replies softly. He doesn't take her hand, but he brushes some hair from her sweaty face. Edward looks on in silence, but Jacob can almost feel the annoyance rolling off of him. This compromise…it's necessary, but it's not good for either of them. Or, really, for Bella. But there's no other way, is there?

"Alright, Bella," Carlisle says. "Here we go…"

Edward stands at her side, whispering reassurances in her ear as Jacob lingers on the other side, quiet, but radiating warmth. Bella finds she likes both, needs both, and she's not sure whether it's the drugs or her own thoughts that think it wouldn't be so bad to have them both. There's a crash and a relentless beeping, but it's all so far away that Bella doesn't notice when crimson pierces the air or when Edward's eyes turn pitch black. There's commotion, and shouting.

"What happened?"

"It's just a little bleeding. I got it."

"Get out of here!"

"I'm fine."

"Your eyes."

"I'm _fine_."

"I think you should-"

"I know what's best."

"Edward," Carlisle's voice breaks through the fog. "_Go_."

Bella feels him let go of her fingers and she's left with a numb, dragging sense of loss. But only a moment later, Edward's cold is replaced by Jacob's warmth and she drifts back off to her in-between state of awake and asleep. Jacob's massaging the back of her hand with his thumb. "Don't worry, Bells," he's saying. "I'm here."

He's _always_ there.  
-

When Bella wakes up, they're both there.

It's really kind of strange, since they're both completely quiet, Edward staring at the floor with such intensity that the meaning of life could have been written there and Jacob watching her. His eyes light up as soon as hers open, and he automatically reaches forward to brush her hair from her face. Edward looks up then and blinks. Jacob pulls his hand back.

"How are you feeling?"

"Like someone just ripped something out of me." Bella's going for a joke, but Edward and Jacob exchange worried glances. Bella licks her dry lips. "Could I get some water?" She looks at Edward and he nods, disappearing quickly. Bella turns her attention to Jacob. "Jake…"

He holds up a hand. "Don't worry about it. We don't have to do-" Jacob waves a hand as if to indicate _that_, says, "-anything."

Bella shakes her head. "I-" Edward returns with her glass of water and she accepts, gulping it down in one go. Edward sits down on her right and looks over the bed to meet Jacob's eyes. Jacob shrugs.

"Bella," Edward speaks first, his voice soft and measured. "I know this was a difficult decision for you, and I'm sorry that you had to do it. But we're both-" He looked over to Jacob, who nodded. "-we're both glad that you came to your senses. And…we've both decided that, if you want children, you should have them."

Bella blinks, staring between the two. Edward is leaning forward in his seat, both hands clasped around one of hers. Jacob is leaning back and away from them and he's not quite meeting her eyes.

"Edward thinks that…it would be best if you had a baby with someone you actually cared about. So…" Jacob's shoulders raise and fall in a shrug and he lifts his gaze from his hands to stare at her. "If you want, that is. Like I said, we don't have to."

Bella's gaze drifts to Edward, who looks impassive. "I…do want to." Edward nods. Jacob blinks. "To have a baby," she tacks on, and Edward's face seems to relax, just a bit. Jacob nods then. It's obvious that this is just a means to an end, as twisted as it is. But she's alive, so Edward will do whatever it takes to make her happy.

And, to be honest, Jacob's willing to take anything he can get.

Edward really doesn't enjoy being able to read thoughts in this moment.  
-

"So," Bella says over the phone one Saturday night. It's nearly three months later. "When do you wanna do this?"

"You mean have sex?" Jacob says without faltering. Bella inhales sharply. So much for keeping things casual. "Jeez, Bells, you don't waste any time. I'm surprised you didn't get Edward into bed on the first date…" She doesn't say anything and Jacob switches the phone to the other ear. "I'm kidding, you know. Listen, I think, if we're really going to do this, it needs to be…right. I'm not just going to_ do_ it. It already feels wrong." Probably because she's married and not as in love with him as he is with her. But ignoring those facts, it's still not how he was raised to just take a girl home and sleep with her.

Even if it is Bella Swa- Cullen.

"Bella?"

"Jacob, are you asking me out on a date?"

"Well…" He rakes his fingers nervously through his hair. "Yeah, I am!"

"Fine. Pick me up at eight."  
-

Dinner was awkward. Jacob had booked a table at this really fancy restaurant and he couldn't read the French names and she spilled a glass of wine all over her white blouse. It had been so terribly not _them_ that they'd left after only finishing half of their meal and went for ice cream instead. They ended up in the movie theater watching the newest Saw movie (Saw Twelve or something). Bella had clung to Jacob's arm and buried her face into his side to avoid the gore, which made Jacob laugh and say _You'd make a _horrible_ vampire._

And now they're driving back into town in the Rabbit, Jacob at the wheel and Bella at his side with her feet thrown up on the dashboard. It reminded him so much of old times that it hurt, and Jacob had to look away to blink away the similarities. Then, Bella had her arms wrapped around her middle because she'd been broken. Now, she had one arm looped around her middle because she'd lost something dear to her. Silence had settled over them, and it wasn't really the silence that Jacob and Bella normally shared. It was heavy with the weight of what was to come and neither of them could come up with a way to break it.

"I think we should go to Charlie's place," Bella finally says, and Jacob looks over at her curiously. "He's in Port Angeles for the weekend."

"What about your…_other_ family?" Not that Jacob had planned on going to the Cullen's place (because that would just be weird, _and_ it would smell).

Bella knows what he means and so she answers with "Edward's hunting with Jasper." Jacob nods and maneuvers the car in the direction of Charlie's place. Again, he's hit with déjà vu. It feels a lot like they're coming back from one of their outings, fixing bikes or walking on the beach. Things had been so simple then.

Well, as simple as things could be when werewolves and vampires were involved.

Jacob pulls the Rabbit into the driveway and kills the engine. Neither of them moves. "I had fun tonight, Jake," Bella murmurs, and she's grinning a wry grin. "Thanks."

"No problem." Jacob's on his feet and out of the car in an instant, over at her side of the car and pulling her door open. He takes her hand and walks her up to the porch, slides both hands into his pockets. Jacob watches her with his head tilted slightly to one side. "So, since we're playing date, do I get a goodnight kiss?" Bella hesitates, fumbles with the key and drops it. When she goes to pick it up, Jacob's already crouched down next to her, the key between his pointer and middle fingers. His other hand finds her chin and tips her face towards his. She's hesitant, but she doesn't pull away when his lips touch hers.

He tastes just like she remembers. His lips are fire, engulfing hers, soft, but more insistent than Edward's kisses ever were. His hand has found its way to the back of her neck, holding her to him. Jacob bites down lightly on her lower lip as he draws away. "Night, Bells," he breathes, straightening up and sliding the key into the lock. He pushes the door open and steps inside.

Bella follows.

Jacob hesitates in the entryway, but Bella's more resolute this time, taking his large hand in hers and leading him up the stairs. It's dark, but he can see perfectly, and he sees how her eyes drift from his to his lips as she pulls him into her old bedroom. It looks exactly the same –Charlie hasn't changed anything- and Jacob would've been struck with déjà vu…

But, in the past, Bella didn't generally lean up on tiptoe and kiss him like that. In fact, Bella never leaned up on tiptoe to kiss him at all. But her arms are around his neck and her fingers are entwined in his hair and her lips are opening and closing over his over and over again. There's desperation there, but Jacob's feels hints of want, of desire, too. His lips part for hers, and he sucks her lower lip between both of his as he slides his hands to her hips, thumbs looping in her belt loops.

"Bella," he breathes when they part. "Are you sure?"

Her eyes hold his and her hands trail down from his neck, tracing out the contours of his muscled chest and abs under his thin t-shirt, stopping at the button of his jeans. "I'm sure," she whispers back, and Jacob hears _I love you_.

Of course it's not the same, but it's something.  
-

It's different than she thought it would be.

The warmth, you'd think it might be suffocating in such close contact, but it's actually quite comfortable. His hands are everywhere, caressing her face, tracing her arched back, fingers dancing over her stomach and leaving trails of fire everywhere he touches. And he goes lower, lower still, and with each inch Bella inhales sharply and Jacob grins at her in such a bemused, innocent sort of way that it doesn't seem appropriate. But he looks so much like _her Jacob_ then and this doesn't feel wrong, not at all.

Even when his lips are upon hers, much more insistent and eager than Edward's had ever been, leaving bruises and chapped lips behind, it doesn't feel wrong. Not when her hands tangle in the shaggy hair at the back of his neck (she's always liked it long) or when he whispers _Bells, Bella_ against her neck as she digs her fingernails into his back. It doesn't feel wrong then.

Not even when two become one does it feel wrong. It's different than she thought it would be. Warm, and she feels like she's melting into him, melting under his touch. But it doesn't feel wrong at all. In fact, it feels scarily right.

When they're finished, Jacob sprawls out beside her in her too-small twin bed. He takes up most of the room, but Bella finds she doesn't really mind. His arms are wrapped loosely around her waist. One of her legs is tangled with his. Her back is pressed against his chest and she can hear each beat of his heart as it echoes her own. Slow, steady, while hers is fast and erratic. His chin is propped upon her shoulder, his warm breath playing about her face. And he's snoring softly in her ear. _Asleep_ Bella thinks, turning her head slightly to get a better look at him. He's much calmer in sleep, she's noticed. Calmer, and more peaceful. No worry lines to crease his forehead, and there's a faint smile upon his lips so that one of his dimples is poking out.

For a brief moment, she wonders _How can this be wrong?_

The diamond ring Jacob had made her take off earlier that evening stares at her from the bedside table.

Bella rolls over, into Jacob's warmth, and buries her face against his chest. Not tonight. Tonight, she belongs to Jacob. It's a little backwards, she thinks, since darkness isn't really Jacob's thing. He's the sun, bright, happy. Dawn would be the best time of day for someone like Jacob. But here they are, under the cover of darkness, pretending and playing with each other's emotions. And, come morning, she'll go back to her vampire and he'll go back to his garage.

But, just for tonight, they are together. For a moment, she wishes this night would never end.  
-

Four weeks later, Bella is sitting in one of the Cullens' massive bathrooms waiting for her pregnancy test to register. Alice is pacing in front of her, looking more anxious than she does. "Alice, stop."

Alice doesn't stop. "I still can't _believe_ Edward agreed to this." Her frantic, topaz eyes find Bella's and she shakes her head. "I still can't believe _you_ agreed to this…"

Bella shrugs, trains his eyes on the bathroom tiles instead. "I just wanted to make everyone happy. They wanted me to live, so I did." Her voice is still soft, barely above a whisper. "And I wanted a baby. Edward thought it'd be better…"

Alice laughed a shrill laugh. "Better! Well, it could've _at least_ been a human…"

"Jacob _is_ human, Alice." Alice stares at her. Bella backtracks. "Well, _more_ human, anyway."

Alice titters under her breath, but snatches up the box from the pregnancy test. Her eyes go from the box to the test on the counter as she reads the directions. The little vampire looks at her watch, taps her foot against the floor. And then, once two minutes are up, she stares blankly at the test. "Congratulations," Alice says. "You're having a puppy."  
-

Jacob is at the house almost every day. He's very persistent in asking whether or not she's warm or cold and pretty good with getting her cravings right. He doesn't put up much of a fuss and seems happy just to be around, even if it smells too sickly sweet in this house. Edward is usually around whenever Jacob is, which Jacob finds annoying but Bella doesn't, so when he shows up one Tuesday with chicken soup and Carlisle lets him in with no sign of Edward, Jacob's surprised, but pleased.

"Hi, Bells," he says. "How are you feeling?"

"Big," she says dryly, and throws off the blanket she'd been using. Jacob sits down next to her automatically; there's no need for blankets when there's a werewolf around. He slings an arm over her shoulders and leans down to press his lips lightly against her stomach. Bella sighs. Their rule was no forms of affection after that one night (funny, how it had only taken one try…). But Bella really couldn't deny him fatherly rights. She supposed kissing her stomach didn't count much anyway.

"Do you need anything?" Jacob asks and Bella shakes her head. Her gaze is focused upon Wheel of Fortune. Jacob shakes his head and settles back in his seat. About fifteen minutes in, Bella winces.

"Oh…"

"What is it?" Jacob asks, stiffening instantly. "Should I call the Doc?"

"No, Jake. It's fine." Now she's smiling. Jacob tilts his head to one side.

"I don't get it…"

Bella takes his hand and rests it against her middle. His eyes brighten almost instantly. "There's Daddy's little kicker. Strong, huh, Bells?"

Bella's too busy staring at the awed expression on Jacob's face to really notice. "Yeah…"  
-

Jacob goes with Bella to every checkup. She tells him it's unnecessary, but he says he wants to be a part of his kid's life and that's he's coming whether she likes it or not. Today, they're sitting in the exam room, Jacob with a book on baby names and Bella staring at the ceiling. "So, how are we going to do this?"

Bella looks over at him. "Do what?"

"Name him." Jacob pauses, thoughtful. "Or her."

Bella blinks. "I don't know, Jake. Considering I'm the one doing all the work here…"

"Hey," Jacob interrupts. "Without me, there'd _be_ no baby." She can't argue with that, so she just shrugs. "How about this. If it's a boy, you can name him. And if it's a girl, I get to name her."

"That seems fair," Bella replies, watching him through half-lidded eyes. "Why do you want to name the girl?"

"Because…" Jacob chews his bottom lip absently. "I'd like to name her after my mom. Sarah."

Bella's eyes soften and she throws her legs over the side of the chair to reach for one of his hands. She gives it a light squeeze, and he squeezes her hand back. "I like that name. It's beautiful." Jacob smiles and Bella mirrors it effortlessly.

"What about you? If it's a boy, what are you going to name him?"

Bella's thoughtful for a moment. "How about Chilly?" Jacob stares blankly at her and she keeps a straight face for all of five seconds before bursting out into laughter. "Okay, okay. How about Jacob?"

Jacob shakes his head. "No. I think he should have his own name. Not that I'm not flattered."

Bella tips her head back and thinks. "Ethan," she finally says, nodding her head. "Ethan Jacob Black."

Jacob raises his eyebrows at her and sets his book aside. His hand is still in hers and he entwines their fingers lightly. "You're going to have the baby take my name?"

"Of course," she says, like that's the simplest thing in the world. "It's your baby, too, Jake."

"I know. But…I didn't think…"

"Hey," Bella says, squeezing his hand again. "You want to be part of your kid's life, remember?" They share a secretive smile before the door opens and Carlisle walks in. Jacob immediately goes to drop her hand, but Bella's fingers tighten around his in response. Carlisle glances between the two with a soft smile, and moves to sit down. He sets up the machine and puts the gel on Bella's stomach. He watches the monitor silently for a few moments, and Jacob pats Bella's hand in what he hopes is reassurance.

Finally, Carlisle turns to them. "Everything looks good, Bella." After a second, he adds, "Jacob. Did you want to know the sex of the baby?" Bell and Jacob exchange glances.

"No," they both say in unison. Then they laugh.  
-

The phone rings at two in the morning.

Jacob stumbles into the kitchen in the dark, nearly trips over one of Claire's toys, and answers with a raspy, "Hello?"

"She's asking for you." Edward Cullen is calling him at two in the morning. It takes Jacob a second to figure out why, and he rubs at his eyes with the heels of his hands.

"What?"

"Jacob, she's having the baby and she wants you here. Now." Those words seemed to jolt him to life. Jacob's already tugging on a shirt, reaching for his car keys.

"I'll be there in five minutes."  
-

Jacob stands at Bella's side and holds her hand through the whole thing. It's surprising that when she squeezes his hand with each contraction, it actually hurts like hell. But he doesn't wince or complain. He just leans down, brushes the sweaty hair from her forehead, and whispers, "You're doing great, Bells. Just a little more." She's very out of it by now, having had an epidural. Now, she seems focused only upon the task at hand, though her gaze does flick to him between contractions.

Edward is hovering awkwardly in the corner of the room. Bella hasn't asked him to leave, but he still feels terribly out of place. Jacob can't blame him. This weird, compromised relationship is all very confusing. After this, will there be no more movie nights in La Push with Bella in front of him and his arms looped around her middle? Will their bond be severed after the baby is born? He knows Bella wants her baby to have a father, but she's also in love with Edward. Jacob's agreed that he'll be a part of the child's life, but how far does that go, anyway? She's still married. Married to Edward and having Jacob's baby.

Whose idea was this, anyway? Oh, yeah. Edward.

"Just one more, Bella," Carlisle encourages her, and with a final burst of energy, Bella collapses back against the pillows. Jacob holds up a cup of ice chips before tossing them aside and leaning down to press his lips against her forehead. "You did it, Bella. It's over."

Except it isn't, because Carlisle's clipping the cord and taking the baby away before Bella can even get a proper look at her child. "What's wrong?" She mutters hoarsely, and Jacob's gaze jumps from Bella to the baby and back again. Carlisle's almost to the door.

"Carlisle?" He asks, watching as Edward disappears through the door. Jacob doesn't miss the worried look in his eyes.

"She's premature, Jacob," Carlisle replies very quickly. "And not breathing on her own. I have to take her down to NICU." Jacob opens his mouth to say something more, but Carlisle's already gone.

Bella's staring blankly at the door, clutching his hand with even more force than before. Jacob drags a chair up next to her. Bella turns to look at him, a bemused sort of expression crossing her face. "It's a girl." Jacob's got both of her hands between his. He nods absently. "Sarah Black."  
-

"Is she going to be okay?"

They're standing outside the little nursery in Forks General Hospital, Bella clinging to Jacob's arm and Jacob with his nose nearly pressed against the glass. Their little girl is bundled up tight in a pink blanket in a plastic box that is way too big for her. She's curled up, attached to a machine, but she stretches and reaches out for some poor sucker's blanket on her left. And when she manages to somehow tug the blue blanket from her neighbor and into her own bed, Jacob smiles faintly. _That's my girl…_

"She's stable, yes. Tonight is very important, though. Preemies are very delicate…"

Jacob looks up. "Can we see her?"

Carlisle smiles. "Of course."

Bella holds her first, messing with the little cap they've put on her head and smoothing out her blanket. She's so tiny, helpless. But beautiful. Nine months of this, of having this little person growing inside her, it's made her see how precious these human experiences are…And just how delicate human life can be. One wrong move, and this beautiful baby girl will be no more. Bella cradles her daughter's head and inhales deeply. She smells like fresh water and a coming storm and _baby_. And she thinks there's a little bit of that special Jacob scent there, too. It's comforting, somehow.

But she looks very pale, and Bella can already tell that her daughter's skin-tone will be darker than hers. A bit lighter than Jacob's, perhaps, a light caramel color all year round. But her skin's oddly pallid now and she feels cold. "Take her," she says, passing the baby over to Jacob. He hesitates for a second, trying to get the form right, but once he's got a hand beneath her head and one arm tucked beneath her, he's alright.

"Hey, Sarah," he coos in a voice so soft it's barely even a whisper. "Hey, baby girl. It's Daddy." He rocks her gently and he's surprised when her eyes blink open. They're blue, for now, like with most babies, and she blinks up at him for a second before nestling further against his chest. Jacob thinks she likes the warmth. He grins as one of her tiny hands wraps around his pointer finger and squeezes. Hard. She's a fighter, stubborn, just like her mother.

"I can tell," he says after a few minutes of silence. "That this one's going to be trouble when she grows up." Bella watches them for a long while, father and child. It's an odd scene. Sarah's so small compared to Jacob, and he's holding her with a fierce sort of protectiveness that only a father can bear. But his touch and his voice is very gentle with each whispered word, each reassurance. "You're gonna be okay. We're all gonna be okay."  
-

Edward enters the nursery the next morning to find Jacob Black sitting awkwardly in the rocking chair in the corner. Sarah's tucked safely in one arm and Bella's found her way into his lap. Their hands are intertwined, and each of them has a hand on their baby. It's a strong bond, clearly, to go through something as long as pregnancy. And these complications seem to have only made it stronger.

Alice enters the room a few seconds after her brother, hovering awkwardly on the edge of this strangely intimate scene. "Edward," she whispers, tugging on his sleeve. "It's disappeared."

Edward doesn't bother to ask what she's talking about. He can see from this picture that Bella will want to spend all of her time with Sarah, and that she and Jacob have shared something that he never could. A human life, a human experience, a human child. It's a mystery all its own. And he really can't blame her…He always knew this was a possibility. But she is alive, and she is happy…

So Edward leaves without saying a word and Alice follows, reluctantly.

Bella's eyes snap open then, and she catches Alice's coat tail as it disappears around the doorway. She'd been awake the whole time, watching baby Sarah and Jacob's smile. She doesn't know how this will end, whether they'll enter into some kind of relationship or just exist together as parents.

But Bella knows one thing. She loves Jacob Black. Always has.

It just took a little everyday miracle to convince her of that.  
**  
**


End file.
